Sales tax on petroleum products reduced

The government of Pakistan has reduced sales tax on petroleum products to give relief to the general public who are facing extreme financial pressure due to inflation and depreciation of the rupee against the dollar. As per the details, the interim government has reduced sales tax on petrol by 2.5% and now the new sales tax on gasoline is 9.5%.

Moreover, the sales tax on diesel has been reduced by 2% to 22%, whereas the sales tax on kerosene oil has been slashed by 6% and on light diesel by 8%. The action helped the government to maintain oil prices for August. It is to be noted here that a few days back Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) recommended the government to increase the rates of petroleum products by up to PKR 4.

Aside from the government giving relief to the public, sales of petroleum products including the lubricants in the country has fallen by 30% Y-o-Y, in July. An analyst, while talking to the media, said that the sales of petroleum products are down due to higher oil prices and the summer holiday season.

The sales will continue to plummet due to rupee depreciation, higher prices of petroleum products in the international market and expected decline in the sales of cars due to government barring non-filers from purchasing any type of vehicle, the analyst further added.

The sales volume of Attock Petroleum was down by 3.2% M-o-M. It sold 175,806 MT in June 2018 and 170,140 MT in July, whereas Hascol’s sales increased from 195,340 MT in June 2018 to 228,989 MT in July 2018 on M-o-M.